Omar Abi Azar is a theatre director and founding member of Zoukak Theatre Company. He has directed numerous performances that have toured worldwide and was commissioned by international festivals, theatres, and universities to create original work. He also co-curates “Zoukak Sidewalks”, an international platform of performance, and “Focus Liban”, a showcase of the work of local artists in Lebanon.
Since 2008, Omar leads psychosocial interventions with Zoukak, targeting various communities in different regions of Lebanon and abroad; giving drama-therapy workshops and creating collective performances with various groups.
Zoukak has received several awards, including the Ibsen Scholarship award (2012), the Anna Lindh Foundation’s Euromed Dialogue Award (2014), the Premium Imperiale Grant for Young Artists from the Japan Art Association (2017), the Honorary Citizenship of the City of Palermo (2017), and the Chirac Foundation award for Culture and Peace (2017).
